1. Seeking The Prophets
2. Reflection, An Endless Endeavour
3. As Long As I Have Myself I Am Not Alone
4. The Culling
5. Introspection And The Loss Of Denial
6. Conferring With Demons
7. As If A Rose I Wither
8. An Interlude With Reason
9. A Cry To The Perilous Sun
10. Prelude To Run
11. Dismantling An Empire
Some of the very best black metal acts of recent times have managed to stay ahead of the pack by not only nodding to a whole range of different genres within their own core sound, but merging in a subtle sense of melody and in rare cases even a certain aura of NWOBHM gung-ho in the process. Nifelheim, Satyricon and even Cradle Of Filth have all managed such feats in the recent past, and now it is perhaps the turn of Floridan extremists Order of Ennead to make their claim to the black metal throne.
Having said that, whether Order of Ennead can even be considered a product of pure black metal is very much up for debate. The death metal riffery present on songs such as ‘Conferring With Demons’ and ‘The Culling’ often displaces the furious tremolo picking that the Norwegian scene has had trademarked for years, and the immense soloing on, amongst others, ‘Introspection And The Loss Of Denial’ would be as home on a Judas Priest album as on any Graveworm release. This all works in Ennead’s favour though, as the US contingent have produced a solid debut album that promises a bright (sorry, dark) future for the genre.
Reviewed by Merlin Alderslade
‘Order Of Ennead’ is out 13th October on Earache
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